April 2011 MMA News Archive - Page 9

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UFC lightweight prospect Edson Barboza will never forget the night he fought Anthony Njokuani.
You see, March 19, 2011, is the day his life changed forever.
"My life changed dramatically because now I can help my family, and my wife's family, too," Barboza told MMAjunkie.com through his interpreter and manager, Alex Davis. "The money is in the bank, and I have to give thanks to God."

UFC welterweight Brian Foster has been forced to withdraw from a fight with Sean Pierson at UFC 129 when an MRI – required by the Ontario Athletic Commission to compete at the event – revealed a brain hemorrhage.
Marc Fiore, who trains Foster at the H.I.T. Squad, today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that while his fighter is OK, he is required to undergo another MRI in six weeks to assure no permanent damage is present.
The article also says he just recovered from an injury that resulted in his testicle exploding and having to have it removed... Damn this guy has some bad luck...

The UFC has booked a fight for the third time.
After two previous bookings fell apart, UFC officials today announced a middleweight fight between veterans Jorge Rivera (19-8 MMA, 7-6 UFC) and Alessio Sakara (15-8 MMA, 6-5 UFC).
It'll take place at a currently unannounced UFC 133 event expected for August.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira revealed in his column for Brazilian site Jornal Extra that he has information regarding the middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
“The mystery about the UFC Rio card that takes place on Aug 27th starts to be unfolded. I have information in which my friend and current biggest phenomenon Anderson Silva will make the main fight of the event versus Japan’s Yushin Okami,” he wrote.
“They already fought in 2006 but that bout didn’t have a conventional end because Anderson was disqualified by throwing an illegal hit.”
Nogueira also says the current climate sees Anderson moving up to the 205lb division due to the lack of adversaries at his current weight class.

Tickets to the June 18 event in Strikeforce, which is officially dubbed "Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum," go on sale this week.
And for the first time since the UFC's acquisition of Strikeforce, UFC Fight Club members get first dibs at tickets.
The event takes place at American Airlines Center, and the main card – including opening-round grand-prix bouts of Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum and Josh Barnett vs. Brett Rogers – airs on Showtime.

"King" Mo Lawal will begin his journey to reclaim his light heavyweight title when he takes on the red-hot, up-and-coming Ovince St. Preux at Strikeforce: "Overeem vs. Werdum," which is slated for the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on June 18, 2011.

A heavyweight bout between undefeated Matt Mitrione (4-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) and Christian Morecraft (7-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) has been added to UFC on Versus 4.
UFC officials today announced that verbal agreements are in place for the fight.
UFC on Versus 4 takes place June 26 at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh. It marks the UFC's debut in Steel City.

With so many deserving fighters flying under the radar these days, that this particular match up got any attention at all may be a crime, but who are we if not willing accomplices? Amanda Lucas, adopted daughter of Star Wars & Indiana Jones creator George Lucas, was set to climb into the cage for the third time tonight at Freestyle Cage Fighting 46. Lucas had spent the past year away from competition sharpening up her skills; unfortunately, her opponent was a little less diligent in her preparation.

Dana White’s long-held opinion of Nick Diaz goes something like this: He’s a talented kid, but he won’t be welcome back in the UFC until he learns how to “play the game.” Just before Diaz’s first-round TKO victory over Paul Daley on Saturday, White spoke to Ariel Helwani in more detail about Strikeforce’s anti-social welterweight champion (discussion starts at the 3:24 mark, translation via FightOpinion):

Uh-oh, we bet somebody is going to get their Twitter in a bunch over this: Former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal spoke with Five Knuckles over the weekend, breaking down the current Jon Jones-Rashad Evans beef with the kind of simple analogy any pimp could understand. Lawal said that in going back on his original oath never to fight a friend and training partner, Jones displayed the personality traits of a common street prostitute and now “Bones” – ahem – should be treated like one.

Kevin Garvey from TheGarv.com caught up with Frankie Edgar over the weekend at Lou Neglia’s Ring of Combat and he touched on a number of topics with the UFC lightweight champ.
One of the most interesting tidbits came when “The Garv” asked the New Jersey native if he has ever thought of dropping down to featherweight considering he’s a relatively small 155-pounder. Edgar replied that he would probably have no problem making the 145-pound weight limit as he typically walks around at 160, but his focus is on clearing out the lightweight division right now.

The slugfest delivered by Nick Diaz and Paul Daley this past Saturday has put both out of action for a bit. But that might be a good thing for Diaz, who's been vocal about getting vacation time.
MMAjunkie.com today requested and received the list of "Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley" medical suspensions issued by the California State Athletic Commission.
The Showtime-televised event, which took place at Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, saw Diaz defend his welterweight title a third time – in a span of six months.

The ankle Joe Lauzon tweaked in a mad dash to check on his hospitalized brother is mended, and he's ready to fight again.
And wouldn't you know it, the UFC has a booking. UFC officials today announced Lauzon meets British lightweight Curt Warburton at UFC on Versus 4.
The event takes place June 26 at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.

In the aftermath of Nick Diaz' epic victory over Paul Daley to retain his Strikeforce welterweight belt, Diego Sanchez took to Twitter to propose that he and Diaz should be the next coaches of The Ultimate Fighter.
If you support me and my idea for me and nickdiaz as tuf coaches please let @lorenzofertitta @danawhite @ufc know this would be true war. -Sanchez
@jimmykahn Zuffa can do what ever makes $$$ I like this fight it motivates us both very much he hates me and I like beating the bad guy. -Sanchez

The "UFC Primetime" series returns to Spike TV for the first time in six months on Thursday.
The three-part series focuses on UFC 129's championship headliner between UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre (21-2 MMA, 15-2 UFC) and former Strikeforce titleholder Jake Shields (26-4-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC).
The show debuts at 11 p.m. ET/PT, and new episodes debut April 21 and April 28 in the same timeslot.

Long time UGer Nick Thompson has had over 50 fights, in the UFC, Strikeforce, Sengoku, MFC, Elite XC, Bodog, Bellator, and most recently in Japan's World Victory Road. He is the former Bodog Fight Welterweight Champion, and holds wins over Eddie Alvarez, Paul Daley, and Josh Neer, among many others.
Thompson was named after an unfortunate animal breed, the “fainting goat” after displaying the habit of getting knocked out almost on command during his early days in the gym. He shed half of his moniker when he showed a growing propensity to maintain consciousness. While fans may raise their eyebrows at his resulting nickname, he's the Goat today because he personifyied the Japan proverb, "fall down seven times, get up eight:"